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| ProdID: 8960 - The Little Yellow Digger and the Big ShipWritten byPeter Gilderdale & Fifi Colston | Product Score: 9.1 |
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"While the people puzzled how to shift a boat this big, a little yellow digger came and just began to dig..." Inspired by the true story of a giant container ship wedged in a tight spot and blocking one of the busiest waterways in the world, this playful addition to the classic series sees the world's favourite Little Yellow Digger come to the rescue - again! The story is written by Peter Gilderdale and illustrated by Fifi Colston in the style of the earlier Little Yellow Digger books from Peter's parents, Betty and Alan Gilderdale. |
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Mr Three was ecstatic to find that he was to review the latest book in his all-time-favourites series with me. He likes watching people working on building sites with heavy machinery. The digger is his favourite so it is no surprise that he likes the Little Yellow Digger series so much. Although she is not as enthusiastic as her little brother, Miss Five also enjoys the series. As she is older, she has been exposed to a much wider range of books, so she has other favourites as well. But this series would count among her top ten choices. The children did not know about the true story that was the inspiration for this book, but of course the grown-ups were all familiar with it. There is always a satisfied reaction when the little person is triumphant, saving the big one and setting an example. That is exactly what happens in this story; the little yellow digger uses brains instead of muscle to solve a problem that nobody thought could be sorted. It is always rewarding to see the little person win: so often size equates with power, but that was certainly not the case here. Both children followed the story with interest, worrying about the big ship's predicament and giggling when the other boats got annoyed and said some naughty words. That got the adults laughing as well. There is nothing funnier than bad language and toilet humour. Ask any pre-schooler if you don't believe that! The author has not actually printed the "naughty words" but has just used keyboard symbols, the go-to technique familiar to all comic-strip fans. It is left to the reader's imagination to fill in the gaps. "Oh bother!" and "the busiest waterway in this whole blooming world!" is as explicit as the language gets. The illustrations are amazing, capturing the unfortunate captain's horrified expression to perfection. The children also enjoyed spotting the extra details like the poor tug boat driver swimming to safety and the cheeky seagulls helping themselves to the crew's cookies. The ship's ginger cat makes a couple of appearances too, usually when the captain is in trouble and he is curious to see what all the fuss is about. The rhyming structure made it easy for the children to remember the words and repeat them each time Dad read to them, and the story length was perfect for a late night read. This is another Little Yellow Digger book that will be read and reread over the years. |
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My 2 year old son is a huge digger fan. There is currently a house being built down the street and everyday on the way home from daycare we have to walk past to stare and point out all the diggers. Surprising though we do not have any books on the subject so this was a very welcome edition to our library. This story is based on the real life event of when a big ship got stuck in the Suez canal and a digger came to its' rescue to help free it. I found it an easy read with simple rhyming paragraphs which I'm sure every parent would appreciate when you have to read it on repeat. The story itself was engaging and with some humour in there that my son enjoyed. He loved that the little yellow digger saved the day and helped rescue the big ship. A lot of pointing and repeating "digger, digger, digger" when we were reading together. The illustrations were colourful and depicted the story well. I'm sure my son would appreciate more of stories from the 'little digger' series to add to his collection. Not only was this a good read but a good momento for the year 2020 |
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| Printed at 11:26:35pm on Friday 14th March 2025 |
